Here’s our version of “grapevine” reporting, a compilation of the latest “blind items” in the wonderful world of sports.
Is it true that a top sports official was recently implicated in a cheating scandal during a golf tournament in a plush country club? The official and his flight mate, a high-ranking financial executive of a private company, allegedly altered their scoresheets which were later questioned by organizers. Caddies later confessed to some hanky-panky and have reportedly been terminated. A golfer who participated in the tournament said there was probably no conscious effort to cheat and some strokes were “conceded” in the spirit of fun. The tandem was disqualified from contention.
Is it true that a loud-mouthed boxer refuses to even consider fighting in Texas because the state athletic commission prohibits the use of a substance that he takes as a pain-killer? The fighter is often in the headlines batting for Olympic-style drug testing in boxing. But he should practice what he preaches. He would surely test positive for illegal drugs if examined in Dallas.
Is it true that a president of a sports club was once jailed in Muntinlupa on at least 30 counts of estafa and begged for help from another sports official she now vehemently opposes? The “Good Samaritan” sports official even provided a safehouse for the “ex-convict” because she feared for her life. But memories are short. Today, they’re both in separate corners, lambasting each other in a battle of authority over their favorite sport.
Is it true that a president of a National Sports Association (NSA) accompanied his sport’s Philippine team overseas and found himself unable to assert his authority because the national coach is not under his control? The coach’s salary is paid for by independent supporters, not by the PSC and certainly not by the NSA. When the coach decided to bench the team’s star players for disciplinary reasons, the NSA president couldn’t intercede. The president sat on the sidelines like a lameduck.
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Is it true that if a certain presidential candidate wins, an incumbent NSA president will be named as PSC chairman to replace Harry Angping? The NSA president is a staunch Angping critic and closely allied to the POC leadership.
Is it true that a veteran boxer in the national pool is on the verge of splitting up with his wife? It’s not his fault although making a marriage work when the husband is holed up in a training camp in Baguio and the wife lives alone somewhere in Metro Manila is difficult.
Is it true that a Serbian player was offered a $3,000 to 4,000 monthly salary as Jason Dixon’s import partner to replace Brandon Powell with the Philippine Patriots in the ABL? It would’ve entailed a major relocation for the Serbian. In the end, Gabe Freeman was signed up for more than double the offer to the Serbian.
Is it true that this Mexican fighter who was recently knocked out by a Filipino has tested positive for illegal drugs? Would that explain why the Mexican withstood the Filipino’s power shots in the first two rounds and had a strange delayed reaction in going down from a left uppercut in the fateful third stanza of the Las Vegas bout?
Is it true that a team of former collegiate players misrepresented itself as a touring squad of PBA veterans to sell tickets in a recent Guam game? One of the “impostors” is the son of a pioneer PBA star and his brother is now playing with a PBA team.
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Is it true that a PBA player uses a ballboy to inform his girlfriend that he’s busy at practice or in a team meeting when she calls looking for him? The ballboy, of course, covers up for the player who’s not inclined to break up with his girlfriend but who wants his space to enjoy his “extracurricular” activities.
Is it true that a certain lawyer, acting as agent for a 6-10 potential star in the Philippine national basketball team, has unreasonable demands preventing the kid from joining Smart-Gilas? If the lawyer has the player’s best interest at heart, he should allow coach Rajko Toroman to work with the young center. Maybe, patriotism is not in the lawyer’s vocabulary.
Is it true that a newly-designated coach in a UAAP squad has been given a limit of five years to turn the perennial cellar-dweller into a championship team or else? The UAAP school has new owners who don’t relish the idea of bringing up the rear in the varsity league.
Is it true that a hotshot cager, graduating from high school, is being enticed by several schools to enlist with a consideration worth several millions of pesos? Aside from a scholarship, the perks in the “enticement” package include a car, an apartment and an allowance of about P10,000 a month. The 6-9 wunderkind, however, has made up his mind where to enrol next schoolyear and it’s not because of any multi-million peso deal. The kid, whose father has passed away, listens to the advice of his guardian who is loyal to his chosen school. An informed source described the teenaged player as the next Caloy Loyzaga.